Hussein Has Informal Talk With Reagan

June 10, 1986|By WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — King Hussein of Jordan met with President Reagan at the White House Monday, and U.S. officials said later that the informal visit here is not expected to result in dramatic new moves to revive the stalled Middle East peace process. Hussein, who came to the United States for the high school graduation of his twin daughters, also is to confer with Secretary of State George Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger about the Mideast political situation and Jordan's defense needs.

A senior U.S. official who spoke with reporters after the White House meeting indicated that no action is likely right away on the peace effort or a new U.S. attempt to sell arms to Jordan despite opposition in Congress.

Efforts to revive the peace process ran into an impasse in February when Hussein broke off talks with Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat because the PLO was not willing to meet his terms for a joint delegation to begin talks with Israel.

Shultz is weighing a trip to the Middle East, partly to explore resuming the peace process.

The senior official said various ideas about the peace process would be discussed with Hussein here. But other U.S. sources said these talks are expected to focus on such matters as improving the life for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank rather than on a start of peace talks.

Last fall the administration proposed selling Jordan arms valued at $1.5 billion to $1.9 billion. The proposed sale was withdrawn when it became apparent that Congress would reject it.